Gloria preparing herself for lifelong rule – ANAKBAYAN

This was the reaction of ANAKBAYAN chairperson Ken Ramos on the pronouncement yesterday of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita that Charter change remains a top priority of the Arroyo regime.

The group had previously warned that Gloria Arroyo, who has already filed her COC for Representative of the 2nd District of Pampanga, would seek to remain in power after her presidential term ends in 2010 through Charter Change.

According to Ramos, should Arroyo win in 2010 while Charter Change succeeds in shifting the form of government from presidential to parliamentary, there would be no stopping from her being elected again as the country’s head of state.

He reiterated that Arroyo’s primary motivation would be to escape multiple cases of corruption and human rights violations which she would be forced to face once she loses her presidential immunity from criminal suits.

The youth leader also slammed the recent Supreme Court decision junking a COMELEC resolution which mandated that appoint government officials should resign from their posts if they opt to run in the upcoming elections.

“The same state machinery that used electoral fraud and violence to Arroyo’s advantage in 2004 and 2007 is again at her disposal, thanks to the ruling” said Ramos.

Meanwhile, ANAKBAYAN praised the youths who participated in an anti-Arroyo rally yesterday at the University of the Philippines-Diliman campus, calling on other youths to emulate their actions.

“Yesterday’s battle at the UPD Campus is but the opening shot in the youth’s revolt against a power-hungry president. Youths everywhere should form ‘welcoming committees’ to ‘greet’ the President with rotten tomatoes and eggs” said Ramos, also a former UP student regent. ###